Hello
by TheDingoAteMyGrandma
Summary: Allison Cade has a secret she can't tell anyone in the gang. Not her brother, not her best friend Sodapop and especially not Dallas Winston. Because as of late, she can't stop thinking about him.
1. Chapter 1

"Hello Sodapop!" I say, strolling into the DX station where my best friend Sodapop works, and yes that is his real name. His brothers name is Ponyboy and neither one of them are too happy when people make fun of this fact, there parents just happened to like more original names. He's sitting back in the chair behind the cash register, feet propped up in front of him and a magazine in his hands. When he notices me a grin breaks out across his face and he puts the magazine down and sits up straight in his chair, he's always happy to see one of us when he's working—it gets boring when Steve isn't working with him.

"Hey Ally, how are you on this fine Monday evening?" he asks with a smirk. I walk over and hop up onto the counter, his boss would kill him if he saw me there but we all know Bill never stays at work past 2:00, I cross my legs and shake my head.

"Let's see Soda it's been muggy out all day, I had to go to school which sucked, and oh yeah, it's a Monday!" Mondays aren't my day, never have been, and Soda knows that. There's something about the first day of the week that makes my usually cheery demeanor not so cheery.

He's still smiling but not in the [i]in your face[/i] way he had been a second prior. "Well I'm sorry to hear that Al," he says ruffling my hair and causing me to scrunch up my nose in distaste. "I get out of work in about…" he looks at the clock hanging right beside his head. "Fifteen minutes, wait for me, it's almost dark and I don't want you walking home by yourself," he says in a firm voice.

"Yes sir," I say, taking my English notebook out from my bag, crossing my legs Indian style, and attempting to begin working on the assignment. For some reason I was been having trouble focusing lately, my mind keeps drifting to the same place for the past few months now. Ever since Dallas got out of the slammer I haven't been able to stop thinking about him, and not in the innocent way I used to think about him either. I always thought he was cute, any woman with a set of eyes could figure that out, but it's like I see him in a whole new light now. The last crush I had was Jimmy Carlson in sixth grade; I still remember writing his name all over my notebook and daydreaming about him asking me out, what our first kiss would be like. But Jimmy was a soc, and when his best friend Larry saw my notebook him and a bunch of his friends—including Jimmy—gathered around me and called me all sorts of mean names. I remember Johnny coming to rescue me, shy terrified of his own shadow Johnny, he wasn't so nervous that day. He would have beaten all of them to a pulp if I hadn't stopped him, even though the socs need a good beating I'm glad I did, adults always take their word over ours.

Needless to say I try not to get crushes anymore or at least not big ones like that and this crush on Dallas is getting to be more severe than Jimmy ever was. Not to mention, I'm not in the sixth grade anymore and my daydreams are no longer of the innocent variety. "You ready to go?" I nearly jump off the counter at the sudden sound of Soda's voice, I didn't realize that much time had already passed and the thought is actually kind of frightening. "Somebody's jumpy today," he chuckles, walking towards the door.

"I guess I just zoned out," I say, gathering my things as quickly as I can, I nod to Kenny—the guy taking over for Soda—and head out the door.

[center]xxx[/center]

We manage to make it all the way to Soda's house without any confrontations with the socs, which is definitely a positive thing. Socs is short for socials, it's our name for the rich kids in town who tend to get enjoyment out of making the poor kids, or greasers as they call us, miserable. It's not like we get jumped every single time we decide to take a stroll, more often then not nothing happens, but the second you drop your guard is always when it does. "Thanks for walking with me Soda, I'm just gonna go say hi to Pony and Darry and then head home." I squeeze his shoulder lightly and walk towards the entrance to his house.

"Why don't you spend the night?" he asks hopefully, he's always asking me to stay over and I know exactly why.

"Soda, I know how to handle myself, I don't need to stay over your house every night in order to avoid a confrontation with my parents. Besides, Johnny's there and we know when it gets to the point where we have to leave, okay?" I ask, offering him a small smile. I appreciate that he cares so much but sometimes I just wish he would lighten up a little and stop treating like a kicked puppy, and that goes for everyone else in the gang as well.

He sighs, I can tell he still wishes I would change my mind but frankly there is no chance in hell I'm going to. I know their door is always open if Johnny and I need to flee during the night for whatever reason and as I've proven on many occasions I'm not afraid to show up at 3:00 in the morning if I have to. He squeezes my shoulder and kisses my forehead softly before silently walking the rest of the way to the door. He holds it open for me and I follow in behind him.

"What are you doing here JohnnyCakes?" I ask, seeing him lying across the couch, some news program on TV. He sits up and offers me a weak smile, "Mom and dad are fighting again, Darry said we can spend the night here," he says in his soft voice. I hear Soda snicker behind me, his way of saying 'I told you so' and turn around to glare at him.

"Oh, well, where's Pony?" I ask, taking the seat beside him on the couch and resting my head on his lap.

"He's in his room, doing homework as always," he says with dry humor in his voice, Ponyboy skipped a year and went straight to high school, he's practically a genius as far as I'm concerned. And genius's need to study something fierce. "Darry is…" Before he can finish his sentence I hear something bang as it fell to the floor in the kitchen and Darry cursing loudly.

"I take it that's dinner…" I laugh, getting up and walking in to see what I can do. Darry has been trying his very best since their parents passed away last year, he gave up his football scholarship to stay with Soda and Pony and works harder than anyone I know roofing houses. Somehow he hasn't quite managed to master cooking quite yet. "How may I help you Darry?" I chuckle at the scene in front of me. Darry is on the ground, pots and pans scattered around him and some kind of casserole on the floor with them.

"You can help by finishing dinner, I still need to make the corn and potatoes," he grumbles, standing up and wiping his hands on his jeans.

I smile and pat him on the back as I walk over to where he just was. "This is a lot of food for just the five of us," I point out, picking the casserole dish up off the ground and placing it on the stove, it is a little burnt around the edges but looks edible enough.

"Yeah, well, looks like the rest of the gang is showing up too." He groans, walking out of the kitchen and leaving me to be by myself.

The rest of the gang, which means Dallas is going to be here, I hate that I have to prepare myself to see him now. Before it was so easy to be around him, in fact he was probably my favorite person to be around in the whole world, besides the Curtis's mom—everyone adored her. Before I can catch my bearings I hear the loud creak of the kitchen door opening and in steps Dallas Winston himself.


	2. Chapter 2

The thing about having the entire gang over for dinner is that they don't have nearly enough seats at the table for everyone to sit. There are five, one for each of the Curtis boys and the two which their parents used to sit in, luckily we don't usually all eat over—they have a very limited income so generally we fend for ourselves. The other thing that makes this a rare occasion is that it's a school night, which means that usually nobody is allowed over (except for sometimes Johnny and I) until Ponyboy is finished with his homework and then they have to clear out by eight o'clock. I'm not exactly sure what got into Darry tonight but for some reason he broke this rule and sure enough had cooked dinner for all eight of us.

After Darry, Soda, and Pony had taken their seats at the table Two-bit and Steve barged over and took the two remaining seats. Johnny wasn't the type to fight over a seat, or anything really, Dally didn't care enough to try, and it all happened to quickly for me to even realize what was going on. If I had I for sure would have pushed both the boys out of the way to fight for one of those last remaining seats, anything to avoid the awkward dinner which was about to take place.

Johnny shrugged and walked back into the living room with his plate, sitting in front of the couch and resting his back against it while Dallas and I sat side by side on the couch. So here I am eating dinner and sweating like a fat man in the Sahara desert, trying to fane interest in whatever happens to be on TV while Johnny and Dally are deep in conversation about something or other and the boys in the other room make lots of noise. I'm intensely aware of Dallas's leg pressed up against mine just the tiniest bit and just that small amount of contact is driving me crazy.

"I'll be right back," Johnny says, pointing towards the bathroom and then heading off in that direction.

I swear I almost impulsively grab the back of his shirt to keep him from walking off and leaving Dally and me alone. Dallas sighs, placing his now empty dish on the arm of the couch and leaning back, his arms behind his head. "So… Allison, what's your problem lately?" he asks bluntly in his thick New York accent, simultaneously causing me to want to pee my pants and swoon.

"I don't know what you're talking about Dallas, I don't have a problem." I do a surprisingly good job of getting the words out and acting completely natural.

"Yes you do, you've barely said a word to me since I got out of the slammer, or really anyone while I'm around. You always get all sweaty around me and do that thing with your hair," he says pointing to my hand which is wrapped firmly around a strand of straight jet black hair twirling it around my index finger. I instantly drop the hair and put my hands in my lap, eyes wide. "I think I know what's up, so either you tell me or I tell you, which is it?" he says this in that authoritative voice which leaves no room for argument, the same voice which has scared many a person into doing what he tells them to in the past.

"You… do?" I ask, not wanting to tell him first because really, how could he possibly know when I haven't even told anybody yet?

He shakes his head in frustration. "Of course I do Al, you're upset with me because I got myself arrested…" he takes out a cigarette and offers the pack to me, I push it back to him and he shrugs, going back to lighting his own. After taking a long drag he continues on, "Honestly, you have a right to be, that stunt I pulled was one of my stupider ones, I should have known breaking into the police station to take my files wasn't a good idea. And I should have been here to look out for you and Johnny, but you were fine, right?" He wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me to him in a one armed hug.

I look at him blankly and allow a small smile to creep up on my face, it's almost funny how wrong he is but letting him believe that he is right is by far the easiest thing to do. "Yeah, I guess so…" I say sadly. "I just missed you is all." I shrug, not having to fake the blush which spreads across my cheeks.

"Missed you too kiddo," he says, punching my arm lightly and handing me his cigarette just as Johnny walks out from the bathroom, returning to his seat. I take a drag off of it, I never smoke on my own, only when the boys are—which granted is a lot of the time, but I definitely need one right now. I smile, experiencing the familiar light feeling of the smoke entering my body and exiting through my mouth again. I always get a little light-headed when I smoke which may not be a great thing but it's not a bad feeling either. I hand the cancer stick back to Dallas who smiles and gets back into his conversation with Johnny.

Now that Dally thinks everything is resolved between us I'm going to have to try to stop acting so nervous around him again, because I know without a doubt if I continue on like this he will find out the real reason eventually. He's been with a lot of girls before and knows how to tell if one is into him.

xxx

I lay in bed, unable to sleep or get my mind off of Dallas Winston, I want to slap myself. This is wrong, I'm not supposed to like him like this and I just want more than anything to be able to suck it up and have things return to the way that they used to be. Back when I used to be able to tell him things and he told me things in return, it's weird to think that that was only six months ago. It feels like a lifetime.

Darry kicked everybody out at nine, which was later than usual but early enough for Ponyboy (and the others who have school in the morning) to get a good night's sleep. For the rest of the night I managed to have conversations with the other boys close by Dally to prove that I was able to talk in front of him, even if I still couldn't bring myself to say another word to him.

Once the gang was gone Pony, Soda, and Darry went to their respective rooms. I took the couch and Johnny lay down on the floor in front of me with one of the blankets and pillows Darry had brought out for us. We take turns sleeping on the floor whenever we spend the night here. Johnny was out right away and pretty soon the entire house was filled with a deep silence, the kind where you can hear every small noise in the house, and every single cricket chirping outside.

As I lay here I think about going out for a walk, maybe the cool air will wipe away my unwanted thoughts and when I come back inside I'll be ready to get some sleep. But then I think about how Johnny and Pony had a close call with some socs a while back because they thought they were trying to pick up on their girls. Bob Sheldon and Randy Anderson, total douche bags. Besides, I like to believe my brother and his best friend have much better taste than Cherry Valance and Marcia Porter. They're both in a few of my classes and while Cherry is sort of pretty she's also one of the fakest people I have ever met, she likes to pretend she treats everyone equally but really she's just like every other soc out there. And Marcia is just Cherry's little lackey, very few redeeming qualities from what I can see. Anyway, after that event which resulted in Ponyboy almost being drowned and Johnny stabbing Bob (who unfortunately survived) I haven't had any strong urges to go outside late at night.

I'm about to go outside and sit on the porch for a little while when Ponyboy comes out of his room to use the bathroom, he stops at the entrance after turning the light on and looks at me. "You still awake Allison?" he whispers just loud enough for me to hear.

"Yeah, I'm having some trouble getting to sleep, don't worry about me," I say, my voice slightly hoarse for some reason.

"Want to come in the room with Soda and me?"

"Thanks for the offer Pony, but I'd rather not get murdered by Darrel," I chuckle, patting the spot beside me on the couch. "Just come sit with me for a few minutes, I could use some company."

I sit up to make room for him and he walks over, taking the seat beside me and pulling the blanket over himself. "So why can't you sleep, is it because of Dallas?" he asks, looking at me with a raised eye brow as if this was common knowledge.

"What do you mean?" I ask a little too sharply, causing Johnny to stir in his sleep.

"Shh… don't worry Ally, no one else knows." He puts a hand on my shoulder and gives me a reassuring look. "But I know that you like him, I think it comes from reading a lot or something but I can just tell certain things about people. But the rest of the gang couldn't be more clueless about this."

I smile, part of me is happy I have somebody to talk to about all this. "Yeah, well, what do you think I should do?" I ask I really must be getting desperate now; this is almost like asking my little brother for relationship advice.

He thinks for a moment, chewing on his bottom lip. "I don't know, it's Dallas so it's nearly impossible to foresee how he might take things. He's mean and everything but he definitely loves you and Johnny so he won't be mean to you or anything. But honestly Allison, and this is gonna sound rough, but Dallas kind of thinks of you in the way that you think of me, like a younger sibling. I don't know because I'm not him, but I'm not sure he'd want to start a relationship with you or anything. I'm sorry, don't cry Ally," he says, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me close to him.

"I'm fine, you were just being honest," I say wiping away tears with my wrist and shaking my head. "Besides you're probably right, it's just a silly crush which I need to just forget about ever happening."

"I really could be wrong Allison, I wouldn't give up all hope." He's trying to take back what he said, but it's too late I know what I have to do. "Listen, go to the bathroom that's what you came out here for anyway."

"I can wait, really."

"Go," I say, trying to show a bit of a smile to him so he won't think I'm that upset. "I demand you pee," I say jokingly.

He laughs and does as he's told, walking over to the bathroom door—flashing me one last smile and shutting the door behind him. Leaving me once more in total darkness.

xxx

"The kids such a fucking freak," Lisa Michaels exclaims, at her lunch table which incidentally is directly behind mine. I share a table with Pony at lunch because Johnny, Two-bit, and Steve are all in different lunches then us. My attention peaks as I hear her high pitched voice and I turn halfway towards her table in order to hear better.

"Who is?" her friend Carly, who obviously wasn't in the conversation, asks curiously.

"That Johnny Cade kid, he's in my history class and he like literally never says a word. Plus yesterday Paul came up behind his desk to talk with Kaitlyn, they obviously have a thing going on by the way but I'll tell you about that later, so anyway—the weirdo fricking jumped ten feet in the air. I swear it was like watching a side show." My face starts turning bright red in anger and I clench my hands into fists, my nails digging deep into my palms.

"Ignore them," Pony mouths to me, shaking his head. He knows how bad my anger can get, especially when you're messing with my friends or family. But what really upsets me about this is that that stupid soc girl doesn't even know what Johnny's been through to make him the way he is, not to mention that it was one of them who made him like that. He was fine until Bob jumped him while he was walking home one day, he had scars for months.

"He sounds weird, what's his problem anyway?" Elizabeth, the girl Lisa had originally been talking to asks.

"I have no idea, but…" she's looks around herself, and sees me sitting at the table behind her, a small smile spreads across her face and she makes a show of looking at me and whispering as she talks. "I hear him and his sister are a little too close, if you know what I mean."

Carly lets out a squeal, oblivious to the fact that I'm right behind her. "That's seriously nasty, she's fricking disgusting."

"I know, but honestly, that's the only pussy he'll ever get." They all burst out laughing and with that comment I have finally had it. I stand up, fists clenched at my side and start walking over to them, Pony tries to pull me back but to no avail.

"Do you have something to say to me Lisa, why don't you say it to my face?" I hiss at her, she instantly turns around—her smile stretching into a full blown grin.

She stands up and steps over the bench so we're face to face. "Oh dear, I don't have anything to say that you don't already know," she says, putting a hand in front of her mouth as if she was perfectly innocent.

"And what is that Lisa?"

Her grin suddenly slips away and her face gets dead serious. "That you and your brother are pathetic loser greasers who fuck each other because nobody else would go near you with a ten foot pole."

It happens before I even make a conscious decision, one second I'm standing their glowering at her stupid perfect face and then the next my fist is slamming into her nose. "You bitch!" she shouts, grabbing me by the hair and pushing me backwards so my head slams down on the bench behind me. She has one leg on either side of my waist and goes in for a punch which I manage to catch in my hand and pull her up by her hair. Before either of us can make another move Mr. Forester my math teacher has my arms pinned behind my back and is pulling me away while Mr. Lang the vice principal has Lisa.

"In my office now…" he says firmly, though he's only looking at me as if all of this is solely my fault.


	3. Chapter 3

[Authors Note: Thank you to everyone who has commented on this story, I'm so glad everybody has been enjoying it. Sorry it's been like a week, I wanted to update but I've been having family problems so I just couldn't focus. Anyway, I hope this long chapter makes up for it. I already have the outline for the next four or five chapters so they should be out sort of fast, just gotta write them]

I let myself fall into the highly uncomfortable metal chair of the schools main office. Looking around I see that, luckily, no one else is here except for Lisa who I'm trying to forget about. She took the seat three away from me and hasn't so much as looked in my direction since; I'm willing to bet this is her first time ever being in here—probably her first time ever being disciplined. The only air-conditioning in the entire school is in the office, go figure, so all the plump office ladies sit behind their desks happily with perfectly made up faces. They pretend like we're not even here, though I did catch one of them shriveling her nose in disgust as I walked in.

Lisa makes a loud coughing noise, and waits for the office ladies, who look up quickly, to turn away from us once again before speaking. She leans across the chair next to her and hisses, "Just so you know, this isn't over. I have a brother too, one that actually isn't a big pussy, and when I tell him about this he's so going to kick your ass. Maybe he'll have some words with Scotty, or whatever the fuck your brother's name is, too." She shoots me a grin, like we were just having a pleasant conversation and sits back up in her seat. Bile rises in my throat, I don't want to be scared but there is no way I can take on some big soc guy and Johnny definitely can't deal with this. Before I can say anything in response, maybe beg her not to tell her brother, the principal Mr. Badgley steps out of his office, with some kind of file in his hands.

"Miss Cade, please come join me in my office," he says in a stern tone, glaring at me and then turns towards Lisa. "And Miss Grey, I'm very sorry for the inconvenience, please return to class." He gives her a warm smile, motions for me to follow him and heads into his office.

"What the fuck?" I mutter, looking at Lisa aghast.

"Have fun in there, I hear he can be pretty brutal to you greasers," she says with a triumphant grin, walking towards one of the desks to ask for a pass, bumping her arm against mine as she passes me. I stand there a moment in shock until Mr. Badgley shouts for me to hurry up and I rush into his office as quickly as I can.

"Take a seat right there…" he says, pointing to the chair in front of him. He's flipping through the file he had in his hands and doesn't as much as look up at me. "Well it looks like you have a pretty clean file Allison. You've only been in trouble once since entering high school—what made you decide to start picking fights now?" He looks up at me for the first time since I entered his office and raises an eyebrow at me.

"I didn't…" I start to explain that I'm innocent, but then realize that I was the one who started the fight, regardless of what Lisa had said to provoke me. "Listen, I know what I did was wrong, but Lisa was saying some really horrible things about my brother and I couldn't just sit back and not do anything."

He clears his throat loudly and scratches the back of his head; I can tell this isn't going to end well. "Allison, I understand the desire to say things that aren't true in order to protect yourself but you and I both no who the victim is here. Lisa Grey is a very good girl, her father is a very affluent man and donates thousands of dollars a year to this school, I'm sure she did nothing to provoke you. Now I'm going to give you one more chance to tell me what happened."

I swear my jaw must be at the floor, I know that the socs are looked more highly upon then us greasers, but seriously? "What do you think happened, Mr. Badgley because you seem to know so much? Do you honestly think I just punched Lisa because, I don't know, I felt like it?" The words leave my mouth before I realize what I'm saying, but I don't take them back either.

"I think that she hangs out with different people than you do and that may make you a tad bit jealous. But I can tell you this, Lisa doesn't talk back to figures of authority." he scolds me; his face is turning a deep angry red.

"I'm sorry, but why is it that the rich kids can get away with murder while the rest of us who just happen to not be so lucky get blamed for things that we didn't even do? How is that fair?" I yell indignantly, jumping up out of my chair.

"I don't know what you're talking about Miss Cade, now sit back down please." His voice is tense and I can tell he's trying to keep his composure. I do as he says, slowly taking a seat and crossing my legs, hands folded on my lap. "Good. Now, I have no choice but to suspend you for the next week. I suggest you use that time to think about what you did, and when you come back please try and keep your distance from Miss Grey. You can wait in the office while I call your parents to come pick you up."

I take a sharp intake of breath, if he calls my parents I'm absolutely done for. "Don't do that!" I shout out, a bit too loud. He already had the phone to his air and stops right before he can dial any numbers, raising an eyebrow at me. "I mean, please don't call my parents. My moms at work and my father works nights so he's probably sleeping right now, I swear I'll tell them as soon as I get home," I practically beg.

"I'm very sorry…" He begins, obviously not sorry. "…but I can't do that, it's in my contract to call every parent, especially when it's something as big as this." He points a finger towards the office and goes back to dialing in my number. I'm screwed.  
xxx

I wait in the office for what feels like hours, I start to wonder if maybe my parents decided not to pick me up, but then I hear the office door slam shut and somebody stumble in. "Girl…" my father slurs, I look up hesitantly and he is pointing his finger at me. The office ladies are all looking up at this point, watching intently as my father makes an ass out of himself, and of me.

"Okay dad, I'm coming," I say in a pleading voice, hoping for once he will understand and back off of me. I get up and walk towards him as he grabs the sheet of paper from the front desk and signs me out, he grunts and then heads back out the door letting it slam behind him. 'That could have gone much worse,' I think to myself, following him out the door and to his car.

One of the ladies gives me a look which almost seems to be sympathetic, but when I smile back at her she looks away as if her life depends on it. I shrug and walk to the door, following my father over to his car and take a seat in the passenger side. "Why didn't mom pick me up?" I say in a soft voice as I buckle my seatbelt. My dad works in construction during the day and my mother doesn't have a job.

"I had the day off…" he grunts, starting the car up and violently driving out of the parking lot. That certainly explains why he is drunk, usually he waits till night time for that, but I should have known—ever since he started getting back pains he hasn't been working as much. "Besides I wanted to be there to personally punish you, you're really in for it girl." He points his finger at me, and I hold onto the bar above my door as he swerves back into his lane, he has the tendency to slip onto the other side of the road when he drives, especially when drunk. "I'm going to beat the shit out of you!" he's screaming now, the vein in his neck bulging as he continues to point at me. "When I'm done with you you're never going to disgrace me or this family again!"

"But dad, she was saying horrible things about Johnny, they were disgusting, I had to do something." I plead with him, knowing that it isn't going to change his mind about anything. Once he's upset about something his mind is made up.

"I don't care what she said bout your brother Allison, they were probably true! If you're gonna get yourself into trouble at school you're gonna get punished."

I sit silently as tears roll down my cheeks the rest of the way home, elbow rested on the window as I watch the houses pass by me. As the houses change to old beat up ones I know we're almost home, and then before I know it we are pulling into our driveway. "Get in there right this instant," he yells, slamming the door and heading into the house. I briefly consider making a run for it, maybe he'll forget about it by morning and then I can come back home, but I know that won't happen. If I run off I'll get it even worse then if I stay, and then Johnny will get involved and everything will only escalate.

Heading inside of the house as slowly as possible I let the door slam shut behind me and walk into the living room where my father is sitting on the couch with his belt in hand. I see my mother quickly walk out of the room and into the kitchen, which she always does so she can pretend she hasn't seen anything. "Come here Allison," he says in a frighteningly calm voice, staring ahead of himself at the television which is muted on a football game. I head over and stand in front of him, looking down at the ground and rubbing the side of my arm. It all happens in a blur, he grabs me roughly by the arm and throws me onto the ground, taking the belt and whipping me in the face with the buckle side. The pain is horrible, my vision is blurred in red and it feels like I was run over by some kind of motor vehicle. "Say that you deserve this!" he screams, leaning down and grabbing me by the hair, puling me up to face him directly.

"I deserve this!" I scream, blocking my face with both my hands. For a moment I think he may be done as he stares at me blankly, shaking slightly but not saying a word. Then he moves his fist back, and I wince as he slams it into my face, hitting me directly in my right eye.

"You deserve more you little bitch," he drags me over to the couch and bangs my head against the leg, kicking me in the stomach and leaning in as close to my face as possible. "Does that hurt sweetheart?" he asks, running his hand along the side of my head, acting like a concerned father. I try my best not to make eye contact with him and spit out blood onto the carpet. "Huh?" he asks when I don't answer him.

"Yes…" I whisper, sobbing quietly and brushing away some of my tears.

"How bout this?" he asks, slamming his foot down on my leg. I let out a shriek of pain as he continues pressing down, grinding the sole of his shoe into my leg—it feels like its breaking—he stops suddenly. "Think about how that feels next time you think about starting problems at school." He releases his hold on my leg and backs up. "And clean up that fucking blood before you go anywhere."

I lay there for a moment as he leaves the room, shivering in pain and sobbing hysterically, every inch of my body is searing with pain and I feel like I can't even move. After at least five minutes I get up, limp into the kitchen and grab some paper towels, go back into the living room and clean up the blood before discarding the paper towels and heading out the door. All I know is that I need to get to the Curtis's house where I can relax and catch my bearings in peace before school gets out and everyone returns home.

It takes me an extra ten minutes to get there, as I think my leg might be broken or at the very least sprained and all I can do is limp. I let out a sigh of relief as I walk up the driveway and to the door, opening it without even bothering to knock, nobody will be there anyway. When I step inside I let out a sudden gasp and consider walking back out, but he'd already seen me.

Dallas is on the couch, feet resting on the coffee table and a cancer stick perched between his middle and pointer finger—his jaw drops at the sight of me. He looks shocked at first but after a moment that shock changes to anger and after putting the cigarette out in the ash tray he jumps off the couch and onto his feet. "Holy hell Ally! Who did this to you?" He walks over and runs his finger underneath my eye, causing me to flinch. I was really hoping no one would be here and I could clean myself up before anyone saw the damage. He takes my silence as a sign that I'm not going to answer him and shakes me roughly by the shoulders. "Who did this Ally?" he asks again, his eyes darting around frantically, I've never seen him like this and to be honest it kind of frightens me.

"My dad!" I yell, my throat is dry and feels like a handful of cotton balls have been shoved down it.

He doesn't say anything for a second, just stares at me, and then he suddenly pulls me into a tight hug. "That bastard," he mumbles into my hair, rubbing it gently. "I swear, I'll kill him."

"Please don't get involved Dally." I whisper against his shoulder, he pulls away and looks me in the eyes.

"Let's get you cleaned up," he says, patting me on the back and pulling away.

"Dallas…" I say, my voice cracking.

"I can't promise you anything Ally, you know, I don't get you and Johnny, why don't you let someone straighten out that guy if he's going to treat you like this?" He gestures to me, shaking his head.

"Because… because he's my father Dal, even if he is a dick I don't want to see him injured and know it's because of something I did."

"Oh yeah, cause he cares so much about your well being," she shoots back.

"That not fair Dallas."

"Not fair? No, what he's doing to you isn't fair! One of these days he's going to take it too far, and I don't want to see you dead or in the hospital in some sort of coma and know that I could have stopped it! That's not fair to me or anybody else in the gang, is it Ally?" He's screaming at me, walking towards me but keeping his distance as I continue to sob, loudly this time. "Geez Allison, I didn't mean to yell, but I don't know any other way to get this into your head." He walks over and wraps his arms around me again.

"I'm sorry Dallas; I just don't know what to do anymore." I'm practically gasping for breath.

"It's okay Al, I won't do anything yet, but if this doesn't stop I'm going to have to, okay?" I nod my head and let my breathing level out. "Okay, now go sit on the couch so we can clean up those wounds. And why don't you tell me what happened while we're at it."

I sit over on the couch as he told me to and tell him everything that happened, from Lisa and all the gory details of what she said about Johnny and me to my father picking me up and what happened at the house. He cleaned up all my wounds, which were much worse than I had thought they were, and resisted the urge to say anything in anger as I spoke. I'm surprised I'm able to talk to him so easily after such a long time of being scared to speak to him, and I feel really bad for that. He's the same Dallas he's always been even if I do have feelings for him now.

He tells me I have a black eye from when my dad punched me, my nose is swollen and red and there are other cuts on various places of my face.

"You know how things are here, it's messed up, and so it what that girl said. But she knows she can get away with it and this probably just proved it to her. But Ally, I'm not going to let that asshole brother of hers lay a finger on you or Johnny, so don't even worry about it." I nod my head; it feels like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. "Now, did he get you anywhere else?" he asks, putting down the antiseptic wipes and looking up at me.

"Yeah," I say standing and lifting my shirt up to just under my breasts. I hear him suck in a sharp intake of breath and look down, my entire torso is an angry black and blue color, and looks like I've gone through hell and back. Then I lean down and pull up the leg of my jeans which looks even worse than my stomach.

"Shit Allison," he groans, motioning for me to sit back down. He wraps those wounds after cleaning them out with the antiseptic wipes. "You really should go see a doctor."

"No!" I yell, grabbing his arm. I hate the very thought of going to a doctor, and he knows it.

"Okay fine, but if that doesn't improve within the next couple of days you're going, I don't care what you say. You could have internal bleeding or that leg could be broken, it's definitely sprained that's for sure." He sits on the couch beside me and wraps his arm around my shoulders. I smile and lay down on the couch, resting my head on his lap, enjoying the feeling of being close to him. He runs his fingers through my hair, rubbing it as I close my eyes. "Now get some sleep…" he whispers, and that's the last thing I hear before I fall asleep.


End file.
